You, Me, and the Other Guy
by Xx-Tigress-xX
Summary: When Sam and Dean Winchester head to Cleveland, what they find is not what they expected. A strange turn of events forces them to work with suspicious allies Buffy Summers and friends to help a young boy and save the world- again! Buffy/Supernatural/HP
1. CH1 All Roads Lead to Cleveland

***Disclaimer: I own NOTHING***

Chapter 1- All Roads lead to Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio. To the average person it was just a city. The name held no more meaning than Milwaukee, Chicago, or Los Angeles. To the average Joe, these were just cities. But Dean Winchester was far from being an average Joe.

Sighing, Dean shifted in his seat as he watched the back door of the night club that his brother had disappeared into. Sam had been gone for twenty minutes. He was supposed to be scoping it out for their latest target. Dean glanced down briefly at his watch. Another ten minutes and he was going after Sam. He scanned the file on the passenger seat, recalling the details of their latest hunt.

It was an odd case that was for sure. At least 50 people dead in the last 3 months in Cleveland and the surrounding areas, all deaths showing signs of supernatural nature, yet no red flags went up with anyone. _People can be so dumb_, Dean thought as he scanned through the autopsy photos he and Sam had scammed out of the coroner earlier. The killer clearly had no gender preference, and the ages of the victims were all over the board. Dean cringed as he passed over the photo of the youngest victim, three year old Nicole Manson. Her body had been found at the park with her throat slashed open and her body drained of blood. Next was Carl Effern. He was a doctor in perfect shape that died of a heart attack watching television in his home. A large needle mark had been found behind his ear. There were scores of photos in the file. Some victims had similar fates as those of Nicole and Carl, others were different cases. Whatever was hunting these people, Dean had never seen anything like it. He glanced at his watch again. It had been 12 minutes. Dean flipped the file closed and checked to make sure his gun was loaded. The silver bullets seemed to smile at him as he slid the magazine back into the gun and got out of the car.

Sam Winchester was in over his head. He scanned around and quickly estimated his odds of winning in a fight. _15 to 1,not good._ Somehow, Sam found himself in what was the prime hunting grounds for a large nest of vampires, all of them male, and all of them with potential victims. Just as he was weighing his options, he saw Dean walk in the front door. Sam raised his hand in a wave as Dean walked over to him and ordered a drink.

"So what've we got?" Dean asked as his drink was delivered. He took a long swig.

"15 vamps, all of them hunting." Dean chocked on his beer and looked at Sam.

"Where?" Dean turned away from the bar to get a better look at the crowd dancing behind him. Sam nodded to a corner.

"The four guys dancing with the red heads over there, three with the brunette by the stage, three with the blonde haired girl at the end of the bar, and five on the wild one." At Sam's last words Dean looked at the middle of the dance floor. Sure enough, there were five vamps around an athletic brunette. Immediately, Dean knew why Sam called her the 'wild one.' This girl had moves that he'd never seen before.

Sam smirked at the look on his brother's face. "When you pick your jaw up off the floor we should probably come up with a plan." Sam paused as he watched the groups start to head toward the back alley entrance. "Or, we could grab our weapons, head them off in the alley, and hope we don't die."

"Always good to have a plan," Dean said as he reached to chug the last of his beer. Sam threw $20 on the bar as he and Dean made for the front doors.

By the time Sam caught up with Dean he had the trunk open and was pulling out various objects that could be helpful. He caught the ax Dean tossed him and tucked a couple stakes in his pocket. Dean slipped a large blade into his belt and grabbed a bottle of holy water before closing the trunk.

The two slunk to the entrance of the alley and saw that it was surrounded on three sides by brick walls. Sam looked knowingly at Dean. If they got themselves trapped, there was no way they were getting out alive. They crouched behind a dumpster as the club's alley door opened and the group of twenty poured out into the dark.

"So, are you guys , like, really all in a band? Because there's a lot of you." The smaller of the two red heads smiled drunkly and stumbled into the vamp on her right. He smirked and righted her again.

"Yea, well, see, we take turns. And some of us just haul equipment. That's why we're so buff." The vamp flexed his muscles. Dean rolled his eyes at Sam as the aptly named Wild One snaked her arm around his waist and grabbed his arm.

"And here I thought that was just part of the 'undead' package." She swooned. The vampire's smile faltered as he looked back at her.

The blonde giggled. "Really," she said as she back flipped behind the group and staked one of the 15 through the back into the heart, "how dumb do you think we are?"

At her last words, chaos ensued. Sam and Dean both watched in awe as these seemingly innocent and weak women executed perfect roundhouse kicks and sent their opponents flying with incredible force. Before either of the hunters could even think to move, the five women had taken out another four vamps. The odds were now two to one, still not in the girls' favor.

Two of the larger vampires grabbed the Wild One from behind and tossed her onto the dumpster the boys were hiding behind. She landed with a loud bang, but wasted no time trying to get back up. She rolled off the dumpster to the opposite side- right into Dean's lap. She was startled for a moment, looking back and forth between Dean and Sam. Determining that they were not a threat, she wasted no time leaping up and shoving the dumpster back at the vamps, successfully pinning them to the wall. As Sam and Dean stood she spun around and snatched Dean's knife from his belt before leaping on top the dumpster again and decapitating both of her victims with a single, fluid motion. She tucked the knife back into her belt before jumping into the fray.

Dean was amazed at the display of skill he was seeing. Sam nudged him out of his awe as they both ran at the vamps. The two pulled a vamp off the smaller redhead and she plunged a stake into its heart. "Thanks!" She yelled as she ran through the dusted vamp to help the blonde, who was fighting three at once. Back to back, the small redhead took out another vamp as the blonde successfully staked two in a row. Seeing that they were in trouble, the remaining four vampires made for the alley entrance.

"Willow, close the alley!" The blonde called as she threw her stake at one of the fleeing vamps. Dean's jaw dropped as it turned to dust. What happened next made Sam's eyes go wide with shock. The alley entrance was suddenly blocked by a brick wall. The leader for the remaining three ran into it and made for an easy kill by the brunette. The Wild One and the blonde quickly finished off the last two. Before anyone could say anything, Sam grabbed the gun out of Dean's jacket and turned it on the redhead. The Wild One flipped behind Dean and held the knife she had taken from him to his throat. The other three stood surrounding Sam, ready to fight.

"Woah, woah, woah! Time out! Sammy, what the hell are you doing?" Dean yelled at his brother. He did not want to be killed, especially not with his own knife. Sam yelled back over his shoulder. "She's a witch, Dean!"

"What's your point?" The blonde asked. She looked like she was ready to rip Sammy's throat out. Sammy looked around at the angry women. Maybe they were all witches. That would explain why they were so good at fighting vampires. And if they were fighting vampires maybe they were okay.

"Alright, scenario," the blonde said, a little more calmly this time. You drop the gun, we take the knife off your buddy, and then we figure out what's goin on." Sam hesitated and looked over at Dean. The Wild One tightened her grip on him.

"You're not getting out of here until Red opens the alley anyway." The Wild One added. Sam nodded and slowly placed the gun on the ground and kicked it away from him. Dean felt the pressure of the knife lessen and remove itself from his neck. He massaged his neck as the Wild One stepped away from him and joined the blonde by the redhead's side.

"So who are you?" The smaller redhead asked. Dean walked to stand beside Sam.

"I'm Dean Winchester, and this is my brother Sam. Who are you?"

"Buffy." The blonde held out her hand, and Sam took it hesitantly.

"Faith." The Wild One repeated the gesture. Dean shook her hand more confidently than Sam. He didn't realize his mistake until he saw her fist flying at his face. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Sammy crumpling up next to him.


	2. CH2 Black Eyes and The Color Purple

***Disclaimer: I own NOTHING***

Chapter 2- Black Eyes and The Color Purple

Murmuring. That was the sound that Dean woke to. That, and the sound of his head throbbing. He tried to move, but found that he was bound. A muffled groan next to him made him open his eyes. He found himself staring at Sammy's knees. Over them he could see what seemed to be a blue sheet. The murmuring grew louder and Dean could hear footsteps. The sound of a door opening was followed by voices, much clearer than before.

"Buffy, you can't just knock people unconscious and kidnap them." The voice was that of an older man, and it had a British accent. Dean heard the footsteps come closer, followed by many others.

"Why not? They threatened Willow!" This voice was also male, but much younger and very American.

"Because, Xander, its… well, it's rude." The older male's voice seemed somehow stern and gentle at the same time.

"And pointing a gun at someone's head is what? An invite to be best friends?" Buffy was speaking now, Dean recognized the voice. Next to him, Sammy's leg twitched slightly.

"No, but that is not the point." The older man spoke more sternly this time, like a father addressing his child.

"But Giles-" Buffy began with a whine in her voice, but stopped abruptly.

"Don't whine Buffy. You sound like Dawn." Giles said.

"HEY!" Two voices spoke at the same time, followed by silence. Dean quickly shut his eyes as he felt the sheet being lifted off of him and his brother. A smooth, female hand touched his face and Dean felt a tingle.

"This one's pretty cute." A voice above his ear spoke. It was Faith. Great name. Great body. Dean suppressed a smile. "Not much in the brains department though." Dean's urge to smile faded and Faith's hand left his face.

"How long do you think until they wake up?" A young girl's voice. Perhaps Dawn? Dean wasn't sure who that was, other than someone who whined.

"Well, they were both punched by incredibly strong slayers. There's really no telling. I'd say that this one will wake up first." Giles' voice become louder as he walked very close. "Dean, did you say his name was?"

"No, he said his name was. Could've been lying. And why do you think that he'll wake up first. I punch just as hard as Buffy. Harder even I'd say." Faith sounded offended.

"Yes, but you punched him to knock him out. Buffy punched… Sam? Well, anyway, she punched him to punish him."

"And we all know what Buffy's temper is like," Xander said sarcastically.

"Standing RIGHT HERE people!" Buffy snapped.

"See?" Xander quipped. There was a soft thud followed by a tell tale yelp from Xander.

Footsteps entered the room from the hallway. A deep male voice spoke.

"Um, Buffy? Why are there two men tied up on your bed?"

"Don't get any ideas lover boy. They're here for interrogation purposes only. If they ever wake up, that is." Faith flicked Dean in the forehead.

"That one already is," said the new man. Dean's body tensed as he felt three sets of hands grab him and sit him up. His eyes flew open and he squinted at the light. He glanced at the window to get a sense of the time, but found the brown haired girl was finishing tying it shut. His eyes adjusted as he was hauled into a chair by Buffy, Faith, and the smaller redhead. Dean looked around and found that his interrogation party was quite large. The man he assumed was Giles stood in front of him, cleaning his glasses. Behind him was a man with an eye patch holding his right arm, probably Xander, the brunette from the alley (Dawn maybe?), and another man. He didn't look too old, but he seemed very intimidating. He was dressed in all black with a black jacket. His face was stone cold, and he was very pale. Something was off about him. Dean tensed as he realized what it was. This man was a vampire.

The three girls backed off after they had Dean sitting in the chair. He expected Giles to be the one to talk to him, but instead he saw everyone in the room move back. A voice spoke from behind him.

"So, Dean, how cooperative are you feeling today?" Dean put on his charming smile as he saw Willow step in front of him.

"Well that depends, how violent are you feeling sweetheart?"

Willow smiled, deceptively sweet. "Someone pointed a gun at my head. Not my best day. It brings back some awful memories." She paced in front of him. "The last time someone waved a gun around me, they shot someone. Someone I loved, very much. She died." Willow stopped pacing and looked at the floor. "That upset me." A breeze picked up and began to swirl around Dean. The lights from the chandelier above them flickered. Dean shifted in his seat. "When I get upset, people die. The last time someone waved a gun around me?" Willow looked up into Dean's eyes. He jumped as he saw they were pitch black. "I flayed him alive. Ready to cooperate?" Dean gulped and nodded.

"DEAN!" All heads jerked to the side where Sam was not only awake but had gotten himself loose and was charging Willow. In an instant several things happened. Or rather, several things didn't happen.

The wind stopped blowing. The lights stopped flickering. Everyone was frozen. Sammy was in mid tackle, Faith and Buffy right on his heals with murder in their eyes. The man by the door had transformed his face to reveal his demon side and was two steps closer to Willow, reaching to pull her out of the way. The others had all fallen into a fighting stance. Dean hadn't moved at all, not that he could've if he wanted to. The only person not frozen was, unsurprisingly, Willow. The witch.

Willow neatly sidestepped Sammy's path and unfroze him, causing him to tackle the air and land on the floor. He turned over to attack again but was neatly frozen in a sitting position. Willow then unfroze the rest of the room. Faith and Buffy collided with the vampire, all of them falling backwards and landing on the floor. They looked indignantly at Willow.

"What? You were all gonna kill him! Don't give me that look. Stay down. All of you," she threw a pointed look at Sam. When everyone listened to her she unfroze Sam.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get the FUCK AWAY from my brother or I'll-" Sam was cut off by Faith.

"Or you'll what? Face it, Jolly Green, you may be big, but she can crush you like a bug with the twitch of her nose." Sam fell silent. Dean snorted. "Something funny to you?" Faith's gaze had shifted to Dean.

"Yeah. Jolly Green. I like it." Dean smiled as Sam scowled at him. "What? C'mon man, it's funny!"

Faith looked at Buffy. Both broke out into laughter, soon joined by Willow and the rest of the room, minus the Winchester brothers. Once the laughter subsided, Willow turned back to Dean.

"I need to ask you a couple questions. You need to answer them truthfully. I'll know if you don't." Just as Dean was wondering how, she answered his unspoken question. "You'll turn purple." She smiled at the surprise in his eyes. "The worse the lie, the deeper purple you turn." Dean nodded that he understood.

"Alrighty, let the games begin."


	3. CH3 Enemies, Allies, and Grey areas

Chapter 3- Enemies, Allies, and Grey Areas

Sam and Dean sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for the group in front of them (_Did they call themselves the Scoobies?_) to finish processing all the information they had just received. They were in a corner across the room whispering. Every once and while someone would look over at them. When the vampire did this, Dean waved sarcastically at him. Finally, the group turned back around to face the two.

"So, let me see if we've got this right." Buffy walked forward and addressed them. "Sam and Dean Winchester, both of you are hunters. Your father is a hunter as well, and you have no idea where he is, but you are trying to find him and kill as many creepy crawlies as you can along the way. You do all this because," She paused and looked at Sam. "Because your mother was killed by one."

Faith began pacing and picked up where Buffy left off. "So, daddy dearest goes all Rambo and sucks you two along for the carnival ride to hell. Neat." She began examining a blade she had in her belt. Dean recognized it as his own. He was going to say something but noticed the homicidal look in her eye as she admired it. Buffy must have also noticed it, because she walked over and held her hand out. Faith reluctantly placed it on her palm. Faith turned back to the boys.

"Since they don't look like Barney, I'm thinkin they're clean." Faith flopped herself into an armchair and spread out, taking up a large amount of space.

"Can we ask you some questions?" This came from Sam. It was the first time he had spoken since his attempt to tackle Willow.

The vampire stepped forward from the corner where he'd been standing. "You can. Doesn't mean they'll answer." He stopped directly behind Willow and Buffy.

"Ok. Who ARE you?" Sam looked that the group.

"We told you already. Scoobies, plus some extras. Short memory there Jolly Green?" Faith sat up straighter in her chair.

"I mean your names."

Willow looked surprised. "Oh, how rude of us. I'm Willow, but you probably figured that out. You met Buffy and Faith."

"That's one word for it," muttered Sam as he rubbed his jaw. Buffy smiled at him knowingly.

"The British dude with a stick up his butt is Giles. The wannabe pirate is Xander, twig with brown hair is Dawn, and the mini-Red is Blaze." Faith took over naming people for Willow. Dean found it intriguing the way she described people. Straight forward, and she didn't give a damn what anyone thought of her description. Although she did receive some rather offended looks, no one said anything to her about them.

"What about him?" Sam nodded to the vampire.

Faith looked over her shoulder. "Him? That's Angel." Faith looked back at the boys to see if her words had any effect on them. Sam and Dean stared blankly back at her. Clearly these boys had no idea who they were dealing with.

"You know he's a vampire, right?" Sam asked them unsurely. Buffy's eyes widened in shock.

"You're a vampire? Why didn't you tell me?" She rounded on Angel. He smiled at her sarcasm and changed his face.

"You weren't supposed to know. Now I must kill you!" He leaned toward her and Buffy broke into laughter.

"Get a room you two!" Dawn said as she slapped her sister's arm. "Yes, we know he's a vampire, but he's a good vampire. He has a soul." Dean furrowed his brow and Sam's eyes widened in shock.

"I didn't know vampires could have souls. How's that work?" Dean asked

"Bite the wrong girl, her people put a curse on you." Angel answered shortly. He didn't like the smell of the two hunters. They smelled like death.

Just as Sam was getting ready to ask yet another question, the door burst open. A short girl with a mass of blonde hair ran over to Buffy. On closer inspection, Sam realized that she wasn't short, she was just young. The girl couldn't have been more than ten or eleven. The way she was dressed had led him to believe that she was in her teens. Tight jeans and a leather jacket can give that impression. Faith sat upright in her chair as the girl began to speak.

"Miss Summers, the scouts you sent out just reported back. They-" She was cut off by Buffy.

"Sandra, this will have to wait until later. We have our hands full at the moment." She gestured to the two men sitting on her bed. Sandra nodded quickly without looking over.

"Yes, I know, but so do they. There wasn't just one, there were three. Some of the girls got hit. They had to carry them back, they were paralyzed." Sandra spoke everything with one breath. Before she could take another, everyone was headed for the door.

"Lead the way, Sandra. You two," Buffy looked at Sam and Dean, "come with." Sam and Dean quickly followed the group out into the hall.

"Woah." That was all Dean could say as they entered the hallway. It looked, well, rich. The hallway was tall and arched, with pictures hanging from the walls and wall lamps snaking up to light the way. "Where are we, anyway?"

From ahead of him, Xander answered. "Well, to the outside world, this is _Margaret Williams' School for Girls,_ but any of the 'elite' who are accepted know that it's really not. Welcome to Slayer Central, patent pending." Xander smiled as they entered a room. His smile faded as he saw what was going on.

They had entered the hospital room, a large room with twenty or so cots and a whole lot of bandages. They had a single nurse who ran the room in exchange for food and a place to sleep. It wasn't much, but if anyone really needed a doctor the hospital was only a couple blocks away. On a slow day, there may be one or two girls in for sprained wrists or minor cuts. Today was not a slow day.

Seven beds held girls of various ages, races, and sizes. Surrounded by still more girls. _Jail bait_ was the first thought to cross Dean's mind, followed closely by an urge to help. That was what he and Sam were there for, right?

Sam walked over to where Buffy and Faith were helping lower a girl into a bed. They looked like they were playing with a life-size doll. After much debate on what the best way to lay her out would be, Faith finally lost patience and pushed the girl over, causing her to land on her side with a thud. Buffy winced.

"Sorry!" She squeaked. "The nurse will be over shortly to see what she can do for you. Tanya, Amanda, come here and keep Laura company, will you?" She rose as two girls came over and sat down on either side of the bed. Sam took his chance.

"So, what is a Slayer?" Buffy looked up at Sam as he asked. She looked him up and down, paused a moment, and then turned to the two girls that she had called over.

"Tanya, this is Sam. He has a lot of questions. How would you like the chance to exempt your history exam?" Tanya's eyes lit up and she stood to face Sam. "Answer his questions. If I think you give accurate answers, I'll have Mr. Giles exempt you from his exam."

Faith walked back over and caught the tail end of Buffy's statement. She snorted. _This ought to be good_, she thought.

Sam looked surprised, but turned to Tanya. "What is a Slayer?" Tanya smiled at Sam. _This is too easy_, she thought.

"Into every generation she is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer." Tanya smiled proudly. That was the first thing that Mr. Giles had them memorize. Tanya looked a Buffy, but couldn't tell if she was happy or not.

"That doesn't make sense. There is more than one slayer." Sam gestured at Buffy and Faith. "I count at least two." Tanya snickered. "What's so funny?"

Tanya looked at him. "Better check your math. Every girl at this school is a slayer." Sam's eyes widened.

"I thought you just said _one_ girl." Dean said, disbelievingly.

"Well, that was how it was for centuries. Ms. Summers is the last of that line. She was the last slayer who ever had to work alone, and the first to not work alone at the same time." Tanya smiled and Buffy dismissed her with a nod.

"That makes no sense," muttered Dean under his breath. From 10 feet away, Faith looked over at him.

"It does, if you know the whole story." Dean looked at her, surprised she had heard what he said. "Slayer abilities." Faith smiled at him.

Sam looked at Faith. "What are slayer abilities?" Faith grinned at him wickedly.

Buffy spoke up before Faith could engage in a practical lesson. "Enhanced speed, strength, hearing, night vision, and slightly enhanced smell." Buffy paused as Xander came over with three girls behind him. They looked to be about fifteen at the most. Dean shook his head.

"Squad leaders report that there are 3 gnarls in the caves. They were only prepared for one, Buffy. You can't fault them." Xander looked at her with his eye. Buffy stared past him at the girls.

"I can't? Why not?" Buffy stepped around Xander and stood over the girls. "Give me one good reason that you didn't stand your ground and take them out."

The girls looked straight back at her. Not quite children, not quite soldiers. The girl nearest Buffy responded. "First rule of slaying: don't get killed." Buffy nodded and dismissed the girls.

"What's a gnarl?" Sam asked as Willow walked up. She dropped the tray she was holding, and it clattered loudly to the floor. Sam raised his eyebrow at her.

Once she had righted the items on the tray and lifted it again, Willow answered him. "A gnarl is a very fast, very agile, and very creepy creature. Usually, they live alone in caves. They paralyze their victims before striping their skin and eating it. The person is, essentially, eaten alive." Sam looked at her questioningly. "I was captured by one once. It was a very upsetting day." The look on her face told Sam not to ask any more questions.

"So, how do we gank these things then?" Dean jumped in. He'd been itching for a fight ever since the vampires back at the night club.

"We?" asked Xander. Behind him, Giles was still stuck on the word gank.

"Americans, always butchering the English language." Buffy snorted at him.

"You didn't think we'd sit around and watch, did you?" Dean smirked at Xander. Faith smiled at him slyly.

"We'll see if you can keep up," she said. With that, she led the group from the hospital room.

_Decapitate, don't get scratched…thumbs in the eyeballs? Whatever works… _Dawn went over her notes on the gnarls as the group headed out to the caves where the squadron had been attacked. She shook her head and tried to refocus, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Sitting in the van seat behind her were Sam, Dean, and Faith. Dawn's mind was racing with questions. Could these two fight? What were they like? Did they have any super hero abilities? Which one would Faith go after first? Abandoning any hope of last minute cramming, Dawn let her eyes stare blankly at the pages as she tuned her normal person hearing in to the conversation behind her.

"So, what did Tanya mean when she was talking about Buffy being the last of her line?" Sam asked Faith.

Faith thought a moment as she played with the knife she had brought with. She turned it over and over in her hands. "I have a pretty bad rep for not following the rules, but B is the original rule breaker. See, slayers are supposed to work alone, with only a watcher to guide them. No family, no friends, and the only social life you have is dead. Literally." Faith smiled to herself. Sam frowned, not understanding what was so funny, but he held his tongue and waited for her to continue. He did not have to wait long. "B didn't want any of that. Before she was called as a slayer, she had a kickin' social life. You know, cheerleader, most popular, boyfriend, the whole nine yards. Being a solo act just wasn't her style. Ended up getting her kicked out of school. She transferred to Sunnydale, her friends there found out what she was, helped her out, blah blah blah, you have the Scooby gang." Faith pocketed the knife as the car came to a stop.

As they piled out of the car, Dean looked at Faith. "So, Buffy got kicked out of school? She doesn't seem like she's all that rebellious." Dean scoffed. He turned to find the rest of the group looking at him oddly. "What?"

Dawn walked over to him as Giles spoke up. "There's a lot you don't know about Buffy. She can be quite the trouble maker."

"Hey!" Buffy exclaimed.

"It's true!" Dawn broke in. "You can be terrible!"

"Like what?" Buffy asked, getting slightly irritated that she was being painted into the same frame as Faith.

"You burnt down the school gym." Dawn pointed out.

"It was full of vampires!" Buffy countered.

"Killed a teacher."

"She was a giant praying mantis lady!"

"and Amy's mother!"

"Evil witch!"

"Slept with a vampire."

"He has a soul!"

"HAD. Until you slept with him."

"Not my fault! AND Willow fixed it!"

"Told the Watchers Council to shove it."

"They deserved it."

"Blew up the high school and killed the mayor."

"The mayor was a giant snake demon trying to eat all the students!"

"ENOUGH!" Giles bellowed over them. "If you two could PLEASE save the sisterly spat for a time when we are not hunting deadly demons, the rest of us would appreciate it.

"Sorry Giles." The girls said apologetically.

Sam shook his head at the group. It was an interesting bunch, but they worked well together. As they entered the caves, Sam hoped that they could fight well together.

"So what are we looking for?" Sam whispered to the man on his left. As he looked over, he resisted the urge to attack. It was the vampire. Before he could respond, something jumped onto him. His demon face came out as he kicked the thing back into the darkness.

"Something like that." Angel answered. He and Sam stood back to back, listening and waiting. The others fell into similar positions.

"Tisk tisk tisk, why do you bring us dead meat? That is no good, no no no. We want it fresh. We want it whole." A creepy, sing song voice floated out of the darkness. Sam felt a chill go down his spine. He tightened his grip on the ax he was holding. Two of the creatures jumped out of the darkness at the group. Buffy and Faith jumped at one, closely followed by Dean, Willow, and Giles. The five chased it further into the dark, leaving Sam, Dawn, Angel, and Xander to tussle with the other. Angel moved just as quickly as the gnarl, but he was always chasing. Xander, Dawn, and Sam tried to form a barrier to the cave entrance. The second gnarl began to move back into the caves, a different way than the others had gone. Angel shouted for them to stay at the entrance as he followed it into the dark. Sam shifted the ax as he tried to see better in the black. Next to him, Xander let out a howl of pain.

Sam spun to his left just in time to see Xander fall to the ground, frozen. On the other side of him, Dawn screeched as she danced out of the way of one of the long finger nails of the gnarl. As it raised its hand again, Sam swung his ax and took off its arm. The gnarl let out a howl of pain. Wasting no time, Sam swung the ax again and took off its head. He looked over at Dawn. She was covered with blood spatter, but otherwise unharmed. Xander moaned as he stood.

"Remind me again why I go on these missions?" He stretched his neck slowly.

"Someone has to be the bait." Dawn smiled as she walked over to his side. A noise in the dark made them all stiffen, but they relaxed when they saw the five that had chased the first gnarl come out, carrying its body. Before anyone could say anything, Buffy ran over to Dawn.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Buffy exclaimed. Dawn rolled her eyes and pushed her sister away.

"I'm fine, it's not mine. Gnarl blood. See?" Dawn did a quick spin to show that she was indeed, fine.

"Where's Angel?" asked Willow, looking around.

"He chased the second one down that way," Xander pointed to one of the caves. "Then this third one ambushed us."

Buffy wasted no time in hurrying into the cave that Xander had indicated, and was followed closely by Faith and then the others. Sam and Dean nodded to each other before following the group. Before long, the sounds of grunting and scratching could be heard up ahead.

"You think you can stop us, but stop us you cannot. We are many, and you are few. The Dark Lord will reign, and you will fall. Join while you can, join or you'll die. We will not die. We will live on. No boy can stop us, we are too strong."

There was the sound of metal singing through the air, followed by a loud thunk. Buffy emerged from the dark followed by Faith and then Angel, dragging the carcass of the gnarl.

"Good thing I'm not a boy." Buffy smiled. Giles looked back at her frowning.

"I don't think he was talking about you." He said, shaking his head and cleaning his glasses.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"I think they were working for someone. This outing has left us with more questions than answers. Who is this 'Dark Lord' and why is there a boy trying to stop him?" Giles began talking more to himself than the others. The Scooby gang looked at one another and shrugged.

Sam looked at Dawn. "What?"

Dawn looked at Willow and they both turned to Sam with the same, dread expression on their faces. "What?" Sam repeated

"Reasearch."


	4. CH4 Magical Connections

Dean stretched out in his seat, glancing at his watch. _Three hours already?_ He couldn't remember the last time he had spent this much solid time looking through books. Hadn't these people ever heard of the internet? He looked around the room and saw that he was not alone in his boredom. Quietly he closed his book and reached for another in the seemingly unending pile of books that _might_ have a clue as to who the Dark Lord was or the mysterious boy who was trying to stop him, or possibly why the gnarls would work for someone. Just as Dean was beginning to wonder if his eyes could permanently cross from reading too much, Xander walked in.

"Hello, research mode buddies. I bring news from the infirmary and jelly filled doughnuts!" At these words, he placed a large box on the library table. Dean jumped on them, along with Willow, Sam, Dawn, Blaze and a semi-reluctant Giles.

"What's the news, Xander?" asked Giles through a mouth full of raspberry filled pastry.

"All of our paralyzed slayers are healed up and doing cartwheels in the gym." Xander smiled happily.

"I'd be happy to be able to move, too, if I were monotonously stuck and unable to escape," said Sam, looking pointedly at the pile of books they had yet to open. Xander shook his head.

"No, I mean they are literally doing cartwheels. Buffy, Faith, and Angel are running them through drills to make sure there were no lasting side effects."

"Anything to get out of doing research," muttered Dawn. Dean smiled.

"So can I help them run drills, too? You have this covered, right?" Dean started to exit the library door when it was slammed into his face, knocking him to the floor. He must've blacked out for a moment, because when he came to Faith was standing over him.

"You okay there, Johnny Bravo?" Faith smirked as Dean got up and grunted.

"You really need to stop knocking me out. I would like to have a fully functioning brain when I'm 80."

Sam's comment that he never used it anyways was drowned out by a loud screech from below them followed by the unmistakable sounds of chaos. Sam and Dean followed the group toward the sound, not quite sure what to expect or how to get where they were going. Ahead of them, Buffy had already reached the scene of the commotion.

"If this is another argument over a boy or the bathroom you will all be doing drills for the next-" Buffy stopped as she saw that it was not about that at all. As she entered the room she felt every ounce of happy drain out of her. There in the middle of the room on the cold floor were two of her girls staring blankly at nothing. The group started towards them but stopped as two more screeches were heard on the left. Another girl was floating in mid-air, as if something had lifted her by her throat. She dangled for only a few moments before becoming blank and dropping to the ground.

"Xander, lookout!" screamed Willow. Xander spun around only to be lifted by his throat into the air.

"Willow, where is it?" Faith yelled. Willow pointed to the empty space directly in front of Xander's floating body. The young slayers ran to the opposite side of the room as Faith launched herself into the air, but landed on nothing. Thinking quickly, Willow threw her power out at the thing that had its hand wrapped around Xander's throat. It was flung backwards into a wall, causing Xander to flop onto the ground. The creature flew off through a window and out of sight.

Buffy motioned to several girls standing nearby. "Take them to the hospital room, now!"

"What the hell was that?" asked Dean. He turned and looked at Willow. "Did you do something? Was that thing here for you?" He started to come towards her but was stopped. He looked up, shocked. "Sammy?"

"Dean, these are her friends. Why would she have anything to do with it?"

"Well then why was she the only one who could see it?" Dean asked accusingly.

"She wasn't," piped up Dawn. Slowly, several young slayers came forward nodding that they, too, had seen the creature.

"I want all of you to write up full reports with descriptions. Have them ready by dinner. You have my permission to skip classes if need be." Buffy heard a small tsk noise at her right. "I'm sorry Giles, but this has top priority."

"Hmm..." Giles looked at the girls.

"Uh oh. Giles said 'hmm.' Something's amiss." Faith quipped. Giles sent her a humbling look.

"What is it G-man?" asked Xander, getting to his feet.

"It seems that the students and teachers that were able to see the creature were those that have shown a considerable aptitude in the magical arts."

Dean looked over at Buffy. "And in English that means what?"

"It means," Buffy said, looking around the room, "that it can only be seen by people who are good at magic."

Faith noticed the girls were all hanging around still. "You all have somewhere to be, don't you? Get going then." She glanced at Dean, who was still eyeing Willow skeptically. "Let's all get some rest. We'll meet again after dinner.

Dawn paced back and forth outside the Winchester brothers' room. Impatiently, she tapped her foot and then turned to rap on the door for a fourth time. Just as she was about to hit the door, Dean opened it and caught her hand.

"You all really don't like my face, do you?" He said jokingly. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"How long does it take for two men to get ready for dinner. I am seriously starved. If we don't hurry up the slayers will eat everything!"

"How much could they possibly eat?" asked Sam.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Dawn led them to the dining hall. As Sam and Dean walked in, hundreds of girls looked them over like rabid wolves. By now, news of the two handsome men had traveled throughout the building. Though Sam and Dean had not yet been formally introduced, everyone knew how they had helped with the gnarl situation. While some girls were skeptical and cautious, others were dying to meet the brothers. Everyone in the room wanted to know more about the demon fighting hunters.

"All eyes on us, huh?" Dean said as he sat down at a table across from Faith.

"You two are the shiny new toys. I would lock your door tonight. Some of the girls can be a little... intrusive." Faith smiled wickedly.

"What about you?" Dean asked. "Are you the intrusive kind?"

"Trust me, when and if I feel like being intrusive, you'll invite me in." With that she rose to join Buffy, who was standing at the front of the room. Dean spooned some food onto his plate and began to eat, thinking about how much his life had changed in a few short hours. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud gong. Sam and Dean both looked up to see what was going on.

Buffy stood at the front of the room with Faith at her side. In the past months, the two of them had become much better at working together as leaders. They had to, just to survive. If things kept up at this rate, they could even make their way to being friends. Maybe. Faith rang the gong a second time to quiet the chattering that was still going on at the tables.

"Thank you. Night patrols are listed on the board outside, mail is in and has been sorted. Those of you who are wondering, the girls effected by this afternoons attack are in the hospital room and are stable. Senior researching teams are to meet Mr. Giles in the library directly after dinner. The rest of you are to attend training as per usual." Buffy stepped back and gave Faith the floor.

"Until further notice, no one is to go anywhere alone. Those of you that witnessed the attacks this afternoon should submit your reports to the box right after dinner. Last, but not least, we have two new people here that you all have been ogling. Their names are Sam and Dean Winchester and they are helping us with some things. No pranks, no fighting, and stay OUT of their room. That's it. Finish eating and get a move on."

Buffy nodded at Faith. She had come a long way from the first time she addressed the whole group. That had been nearly disastrous. She didn't quite understand at the time that calling them whiny babies was not going to get her any respect. She looked up as Willow approached her.

"I was wondering if maybe it would be a good idea to have Sam and Dean watch them train. The more they know, the easier it will be for them to work together." Willow hurried to say everything in one breath, a tell-tale sign that she was up to something. The flush in her cheeks told Buffy that the something probably had to do with one Sam Winchester and his very large manliness. Buffy nodded.

"Sounds like a good idea. Why don't we put Dean with your class and Sam with Faith's?" Buffy tried not to smile as panic crossed Willow's eyes.

"Well, actually, I sense that Sam is magically inclined and might have an easier time in my class." Willow looked up at Buffy timidly as Buffy burst into laughter.

"You can have him," Buffy winked at her best friend. "Just make sure you know what to do with him."

Sam and Dean flopped onto their beds, exhausted. Neither one wanted to move after the extreme workout they had just had. Dean spoke to Sam first, still staring at the ceiling.

"If that chic is as enthusiastic in the sack as she is during a mock battle, I'm going to need a sturdier bed." He hauled himself up to go take a shower.

Sam looked over and yelled at the closed bathroom door. "I think I like her."

"Which her?" Dean poked his head and naked upper body out of the bathroom door into the bedroom. "There are a whole lot of hers here Sam, and I really hope the her you are talking about is not jail bait."

"Willow," Sam scowled at Dean.

"The witch? The her that you pointed a gun at just over 48 hours ago? THAT her?" Dean looked flabbergasted at his brother.

"Yes THAT her. I was wrong about her. You should've seen her at drills, Dean. She taught the girls that magic is supposed to be for defense first."

"So hurting people is second. That's nice." Dean rolled his eyes.

"She's a good person, Dean!" Sam began to raise his voice.

"I'm not saying she isn't. I'm just saying that you don't know that much about her. Don't jump in the water before you test the acid level." With that, Dean closed the bathroom door and turned on the shower.


	5. CH5 Odd Dreams and Girly Nightmares

*****Just a reminder- I OWN NOTHING*****

-Buffy awoke without opening her eyes. She couldn't have closed them more than fifteen minutes ago and already she was being disturbed. There was a soft hum coming from outside the door and she realized that it was the sound of many people- no, children- talking. Mentally she weighed her options. She could go out there and send them all to bed with a threat of a double workout in the morning, but that would require moving from her own bed, which felt unusually comfortable to her aching body at the moment. No, that wasn't going to happen. She could ignore them, in hopes that someone would soon do the dirty work for her, but there was no telling when that would happen. Sighing dejectedly, she decided to call Faith. Perhaps she hadn't left for her night patrol yet and could exercise her reserved right to beat the children that she so often claimed. Buffy was far too sleepy to care. Her vision was blurry as she reached for her phone on the bedside table. Instead of her phone, she found a pair of glasses that she automatically shoved onto her face as someone pounded on her door.

"I'm coming!" She shouted in a voice that was far too deep to be her own. Her body moved automatically to a mirror. She reached up to try to fix her scruffy black hair, though she knew it would be in vain. Sure enough, it popped back to where it had been before, revealing the scar on her forehead. Shaking her head, she reached for her wand and potions book before heading out the door.

She was nearly tripped by her red-headed best friend, Xander, as he ran down the stairs past her.

"C'mon, Harry! We're going to be late. Just because you're Slughorn's favorite doesn't mean he won't take poin-"-

"You used my NEW LEATHER JACKET for WHAT?" Buffy snapped out of her dream and sprang out of bed. There would be time to analyze that later. Right now, she needed to stop whatever argument was about to cause an apocalypse. She threw open her door and ran down the hall. Ahead of her she could see Faith entering the foyer where the trouble seemed to be coming from. She inwardly smiled as she noted Faith had also not stopped to get dressed. _She is starting to prioritize, and helping out comes before sleep and beauty._ It was a pretty big step for Faith. Just a month ago she had refused to help stop an all-out cat fight because she wasn't dressed yet and she didn't really care.

As she entered the foyer she joined Faith between two young slayers, facing Demetria. Demetria was just like Faith, but younger and wilder (if that were possible). If there was trouble to be gotten into or a crazy time to be had, that was where she would be. Buffy shook her head. The girl was seventeen with the looks of a twenty-three year old stripper. She stood there in jean shorts and a tank top with a look in her dark brown eyes that said she was going to kill someone.

Across the room from the two of them were Faith and Diamond. Diamond was a very innovative girl with a knack for magic. She spent a good deal of her time training with Willow. Though only thirteen, the girl was well ahead of others her age in all of her studies, in part due to her sister's tutelage. Glancing around, Buffy saw Blaze running to her sister's side, ready to defend. Thankfully, Willow cut her off before she could escalate the situation. Buffy wasn't sure what this particular argument was about, but the group was starting to draw a crowd. In most places this would be only an inconvenience, but at _Margaret William's School for Girls_ the crowds were always full of emotional, hormonal, super-charged teenagers.

"Okay, everybody FREEZE!" yelled Buffy. Instantly everyone stopped talking and moving. From the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Sam and Dean enter the room followed by Giles. They, too, stopped moving and waited on the edge of the room.

"Thank you," Buffy said in a lower voice. "Now, if you have something to do with whatever issue we have here you may stay. If you do not, you are to go back to bed. Now," Buffy added when no one moved. Several girls shuffled off, but there were still quite a few left in the foyer. Buffy mentally rolled her eyes. "Girls, think VERY carefully about how you are related to this issue. You will have to explain to me, in detail, your reasoning. Anyone here with a lame reason will be subjected to a sparring match... against Faith and I." With this threat issued the girls quickly emptied the room, though some were not happy about it. A stubborn Blaze allowed Willow to guide her back to the hallway that lead her to her room.

"Now, you two, why am I awake at-" Buffy glanced at the clock, "Three o'clock in the morning? Really?"

Demetria ignored Buffy's complaints and began shouting across the room at Diamond. Diamond began shouting back, which caused Faith to shout at Diamond and Buffy to shout at Demetria. Dean snorted from his spot on the wall.

"Why don't they just let them go at each other? They have super healing don't they?" Xander leaned in from behind him to answer.

"It is not the sexy pillow fight you are imagining, my friend. Trust me, I live with them. It is nothing but bruises, blood, broken bones, and high medical bills. Imagine less Wonder Woman versus Cat Woman and more Hulk versus Thing from Fantastic Four. It gets pretty nasty." In front of them, Buffy and Faith had been forced to pin the girls down.

"Huh. So why doesn't Willow just give them some magical Xanax?" Sam asked as he watched the display with curiosity.

"You want the witch to give them a magical roofey? What the hell, man?" Dean scowled at his brother.

"That 'witch' is a good person and an excellent ally, and you'd do well to remember it." Giles looked darkly at Dean. "She may just save your life yet." In front of them, Demetria and Diamond had become a back to back team fighting off Faith and Buffy's attacks.

"Should, um, should we be helping?" Xander asked hesitantly. Before any of the men could answer, Faith chimed in.

"It'd be real swell if you did-" she dodged a high kick by Diamond.

"Unless you're too busy gossiping." Buffy finished, landing a solid punch to Demetria's face. The girl gasped and grabbed her face, giving Buffy the opening she needed to tackle her to the ground. Diamond was distracted by Demetria's downfall and Faith mirrored Buffy's actions.

"Looks like you've got them handled." Dean said. Faith flipped him off as she pulled Diamond to her feet.

"So, what just happened?" Sam asked, completely baffled.

"Well," said the voice of Willow, "the two girls were fighting over clothing, both its ownership and its destruction. Buffy said it was just a stupid piece of clothing, the girls disagreed so strongly that they quit fighting each other and started fighting Buffy and Faith, which of course spells disaster, and then Buffy and Faith carted them off to isolation. Just another spat is all." Sam and Dean looked up to see Willow floating above their heads.

"How long have you been there?" Dean asked.

"Long enough." Willow said bluntly as she floated back to the ground. Without warning she conjured a strawberry smoothie and dumped it over Dean's head. "For the record, I would never do anything to harm my students or my friends, nor would I try to influence their mental state." Sam smirked, and was suddenly doused in an ice cold substance that tasted like pomegranate and mango. "And that includes giving them magical Xanax!" And with that Willow huffed off towards her room.

"Women are touchy, huh?" Xander said, grinning. The grin faded when an icy blueberry smoothie plopped onto his head. Giles smiled politely at the three boys with frosty beverages for hats.

"Good night, all." He said, and quickly headed in the opposite direction Willow had gone. Buffy and Faith returned to the foyer, took one look at the trio, and started laughing.

"You should probably shower before bed, guys. You're lookin' a little... fruity." Buffy and Faith burst out laughing again.

"Oh HA HA. You girls are a riot." Dean rolled his eyes as he, Sammy, and Xander left the foyer.


	6. CH6 Silver Bullets and Snowy Owls

*******In case you missed it in the first few chapters- I am a Literary Bum- I OWN NOTHING*******

Buffy stood in front of her Scooby team and the Winchester brothers. She turned to the boards behind her. "So, one more time, here is what we know..."

Faith mentally groaned and stopped herself from banging her head into the desk. This was getting ridiculous. They had spent the entire morning pouring over reports on the invisible man attack, going over Buffy's slayer dream, and sifting through the gobs of research that the research teams had come up with. They had miles of paper work, comparison charts up the yingyang, and hours of time spent trying to analyze it all. And for what? Nothing, that's what. These so-called Scooby meetings had become chase-my-tail-until-I-go-nuts meetings. Faith glanced up at the clock. It was already almost noon. Sighing, she stared blankly ahead at the boards. The information there hadn't changed in the past two hours. Going over it again wasn't going to change what it said. Faith glanced back down to the copy she had made in her 'Scooby notebook,' a Willow/Giles invention. Or torture device. Here, like on the board, the information was not going to change.

What We Know:

The gnarls are working for the 'Dark Lord'

A boy is trying to defeat the 'Dark Lord'

Buffy had a dream about being a boy who is a wizard

An invisible something attacked the slayers

The attacked slayers are conscious, but nobody's home

Only the magically inclined people could see the invisible something, described as a black cloaked skeleton

What We Don't Know:

Who is the Dark Lord?

Who is the boy?

Is the boy in Buff's dream the same boy?

Is the invisible thing related to the gnarls or Dark Lord?

Why can only the magically inclined see them?

Why isn't any of this information in the library?

Ok, so the last question wasn't on the board, but it was a valid question. Why the hell wasn't the information just right where you wanted it to be? And when was the last time she ate? Faith's stomach growled softly. Just as she was about to add "When is lunch?" to her notebook, Dean's voice sounded above Buffy's.

"Uh, Buffy, I don't mean to interrupt, but it's chow time." Dean nodded toward the clock on the wall. Buffy gasped.

"Oh wow, look at that. The time just flew!" Faith held her tongue, but mentally rolled her eyes. "Well, let's be done with this-" Faith fist-pumped in the air, glad to escape. Buffy scowled at her. "-until after lunch." Buffy finished, looking pointedly at Faith. Faith grinned sweetly at her.

"What can I tell ya B? I wasn't meant to be caged." She did an exaggerated stretch that caused her shirt to ride up exposing her toned midsection. Dean cocked an eyebrow at her and appraised the curves she was clearly not hiding.

"Yes, well, go run free wild animal." Xander shooed her toward the door. "You are between me and my food, and any second now the slayers will be invading the kitchen." A look of realization came over Faith's face. She scrambled out of the room with Xander, Buffy, Willow, and even Giles on her heels. Intrigued, Sam and Dean walked down to the cafeteria.

The scene before them was a mad house. There were girls trying to push and punch their way into the kitchen, girls trying to push and punch their way OUT of the kitchen, girls fighting over seats, over food, over drinks. It was the epitome of cafeteria food fights- but people were fighting over the food, not with it. Sam ducked as a plate came flying in his direction. Faith scowled and crossed her arms.

"There is no way we are getting in there. Remind me again why we let them feed themselves?" She glanced at Xander who had a devastated look on his face. He shrugged and turned to leave. Dean reached into his coat and pulled out his silver bullet filled gun. Aiming at the high ceiling, he fired three times. Rather than become silent, ear-piercing shrieks could be heard throughout the room as everyone hit the floor. Faith's eyes went wide and she stepped back. Dean raised an eyebrow at her behavior.

"Guns are a HUGE no-no in Buffy's book." She explained. Buffy walked up to Dean and leaned next to his ear.

"Can I please speak to you outside?" Dean nodded and followed Buffy out of the door towards the front of the building. He was surprised when she started to head for the door of the building.

"You meant outside outside, huh?" Buffy nodded and continued out the door and down the path. She was half way to the end of the driveway before she finally stopped.

"As I've said, slayers have excellent hearing and here is the only place we won't be over heard by prying ears." Dean nodded in understanding. "I don't like guns, they are NEVER useful. I understand that you need them. You aren't as strong or fast as we are. You don't have the quick reflexes that we do. You-"

"Wait just a damn minute here," Dean interrupted. "Who the hell do you think you are, making me feel small? Yeah, my brother and I don't have any super powers, but we have done this a hell of a lot longer than you have. Our father CHOSE this life because it was the right thing to do, and I CHOSE to follow in his footsteps because the world does need protection. We weren't CHOSEN, no, but that doesn't make us any less than you. You walk around here thinking you're all high and mighty because you have these gifts, and don't get me wrong that's great. But you do this because it is your job, it was assigned to you without you having any say in it. I made this choice. So I don't give a damn what you think about my methods or my lack of super powers, because when it boils down, those things don't make me any less or greater than you. It makes us equals, fighting for the good of the world."

Buffy stared at him for a minute. "Dean, I don't think you are any less. I was just trying to say that I understand why you use a gun loaded with silver bullets. I was only going to ask you not to use it around the girls and me."

"Oh," Dean said slowly. Buffy continued to stare at him, and her expression softened.

"You're right though. Sometimes I do act high and mighty. Comes with the gig." She smiled warmly at him. Dean was about to respond sarcastically when a bird caught his attention.

"Is that an owl?" He asked, pointing over her shoulder at the fence surrounding the school. Buffy turned and nodded with a puzzled look on her face.

"I thought they slept during the day… and since when do we have snowy owls in Cleveland?" Buffy walked toward the bird. It did not move as she got closer. "It's got something tied to its leg!" She called back to Dean. He trotted over to her as she reached toward the bird. The owl held its leg out toward them. Dean raised his eyebrow at her. Making an executive decision, Buffy gently grabbed the bird off of the fence and held it out while Dean untied the rolled up piece of paper on its leg. He unrolled the paper as they walked back towards the school.

"What is it?" Buffy tried to read over Dean's shoulder as she attempted to keep a hold on the now struggling owl.

"It's a letter." Dean said, scanning to the bottom to see who it was from. "It's signed 'sincerely, …. Dumbledore?' What kind of name is that?"

"I'm not sure," Buffy admitted. "We'd better take this to Giles. We'll probably need to do more research."

Dean cringed at the sound of the word and made a mental note to find something that would make him busy for the foreseeable future. As they walked back into the castle, Buffy paused and looked over her shoulder.

"What's up?" Dean asked, looking to see what she was staring at.

"Nothing, I just… never mind. Let's go." Buffy slipped through the door followed by Dean.

Neither of them heard the small pop at the end of the driveway, nor did they see the strangely dressed man's twinkling eyes before he disappeared into thin air.


End file.
